None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else.

There is actually a very interesting bit of politics/financial reasons as to why this particular book nearly destroyed the comics industry on the whole. This issue came just before the "great depression" in the comic book industry.

When it was announced that they were "killing" Superman, everyone and their grandmother rushed out to buy an issue, because they assumed the book would be worth millions of dollars later on. So even the most casual readers were going to line up to buy this comic. It was a huge oversight on the part of DC, and they MASS PRODUCED that issue by the truckloads (more than any other comic at the time).

Then, they brought Superman back, and it didn't even matter...the comic was worthless, casual readers were turned off from comics and fans felt like they had been duped. This saw a huge decline in the sales of comics, which nearly killed the industry.

This wasn't the beginning of the comic-book speculation craze. I think it's main significance is the introduction of "comic book death" (reversible death). The deaths of Aquababy, Gwen Stacy, Phoenix, and Robin II (Jason Todd) were assumed to be permanent. After Superman, resurrections became so common that the whole idea of "comic book death" became a joke--it would be difficult to name a character whose resurrection has not at least been teased, if not actually accomplished (sometimes en masse).

But "ruined comics forever"? Come now. Comics are a medium, and are not limited to the superhero genre, and there have been many worthy examples since the mid-1990's (e.g. Persepolis). Even limiting ourselves to superheroes, surely there have been some good books since then. The Boys? The Immortal Iron Fist? Brubaker's Captain America? Swamp Thing?

The comic book industry has been threatened mainly by problems with distribution (when I was a kid you could buy comics at 7-11, but now you have to go to speciality shops), and by the lack of interest in them in younger generations (which prefer video games). The first problem could be solved through e-publishing (recently introduced). The second is harder, but superheroes are multimedia characters who are routinely adapted for video games and movies, which in fact make a lot more money than the comics themselves. These might conceivably attract a certain number of new readers.

“What part of a woman is the yet, anyway? I heard there was a fight here in Tulsa, and a woman was shot in the fracas. The doc said the bullet is in her yet. And how did the bullet get in her yet, when she was shot in the fracas?"

“What part of a woman is the yet, anyway? I heard there was a fight here in Tulsa, and a woman was shot in the fracas. The doc said the bullet is in her yet. And how did the bullet get in her yet, when she was shot in the fracas?"

None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else.

The Death of Superman didn't really ruin comics. Like Solid Champ said, at the time, it was marketed as this huge event, and everyone thought it was going to worth a lot of money in the future, but it was mass produced (which is why marvel now only sells a number of their event titles). While the comic book death is comical and frustrating at times, it just makes the good comics stand out even more. Comics as I'm using it here would only apply to anything published in the two big house's multiverse. Take for example, unstable molecules, the recently released batman earth one, all star superman, civil war, house of m, a number of green arrow stories, sinestro corps war, and a collection of jsa as well. Because comic book death is so common, and not something that really means much anymore, we've come to expect it. And it brings a greater appreciation to good solid story telling. When I think of Batman, I don't think of the whole canon and ex canons and various incarnations. I think of the various stories that stood out that were amazing experiences to read. Civil War and House of M both feaures characters dying, and returning from the dead in one way or another, best marvel events imo.

For me, anything in between the death and rebirth of a character is filler, and rarely has a gem. But there has been exceptions to this as well, take Batman and Robin. So it's not that comic book death killed comics, there's just bad story telling.

FRIENDLY REMINDER Please remember that Forumosa is not responsible for the content that appears on the other side of links that Forumosans post on our forums. As a discussion website, we encourage open and frank debate. We have learned that the most effective way to address questionable claims or accusations on Forumosa is by engaging in a sincere and constructive conversation. To make this website work, we must all feel safe in expressing our opinions, this also means backing up any claims with hard facts, including links to other websites.
Please also remember that one should not believe everything one reads on the Internet, particularly from websites whose content cannot be easily verified or substantiated. Use your common sense and do not hesitate to ask for proof.